Spring Fling: Tulips in Keukenhof, Netherlands

Known as the “Garden of Europe”, Keukenhof regards itself as the most beautiful spring garden in the world. Well, I, for one, am not inclined to disagree. I have never been as enamored with flowers as I had been when I went to Keukenhof during my trip to Amsterdam this spring. I had the fortune of timing my 2018 #EURockMyWorld tour during tulip season in the Netherlands and I was even luckier to be there during a fine sunny day. Set against a bright blue sky, colorful flowers filling the air with divine fragrance can definitely lift up one’s spirits and erase one’s troubles.

When is the best time to visit Keukenhof?

Keukenhof is open only in spring, from end of March to mid-May, every day of the week, from 08:00 to 19:30. This year, it’s open only until May 13. If you could plan your itinerary, try to schedule your visit on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday when there are fewer people to photobomb your shots. Try also to get there as early as you could, or you would have to wait for the last remaining hours for the park to clear up a bit.

Since tulips are not the only flowers blooming in the park, it’s safe to say that you can visit it any time it is open. But I would think the best period to visit Keukenhof would be during the second half of April when tulips are already in full bloom, but before the end of April when tulip heads are taken off by farmers.

For our trip, we were able to time our visit on a fair Saturday afternoon. As can be expected, there were hordes of tourists! Good thing that by around four o’clock in the afternoon, people started leaving so we had a couple of hours to enjoy the park relatively people-free.

A few steps from the entrance and flowers like these will greet you.

Because purple is my favorite color, I could not help taking photos with these babies.

A closer look at the Delft Blue.

Because of the hordes of tourist, it is important to find an angle that removes them from the narrative. Haha!

Looking at these narcissus flowers makes you understand the Greek myth better.

Are the Tulipa Fashion gorgeous as well?

Bulb-like sculptures at Keukenhof. Check out all those people!

Tulipa Love Song

Tulip fields near the windmill. Only red ones were in bloom when we were there.

Keukenhof’s theme for 2018 is Romance in Flowers

What can you do in Keukenhof?

Keukenhof is a park and as soon as you enter, you will feel that undeniable urge to take photos of the gorgeous flowers all around. Aside from the flowers, there is a playground, a maze and a petting zoo for children. There was even a falcon show when we visited. There are also various indoor flower exhibitions and these are not limited to tulips but other flower varieties are also in show such as orchids, crocuses, hyacinths and others. There is also a boat trip offered and having picnics is possible.

I kept hearing people talk about a “black tulip” but these are the darkest ones I saw: Tulipa Continental.

Yellow flowers inside one of the pavilions. Sorry I forgot the name!

Would you know the name of this one?

And of this one, too?

As Keukenhof is very tourist-oriented, there is free Wi-Fi available around the pavilions, restaurants and a traditional Dutch windmill overlooking the tulip fields and a shop that sells traditional wooden clogs and Dutch cheese.

Wooden clogs come in all shapes and it is not surprising why visitors would be amazed by them.

This area was filled with people a couple of hours earlier!

Doesn’t it look extra awesome without the extra people?

Take a boat ride around Keukenhof on one of these.

There are also Cherry Blossoms at Keukenhof. Some are already in bloom when we visited!

How to get to Keukenhof?

There are plenty of options if you are coming from Amsterdam. But the best way is to take the train to the Schiphol airport, look for the Keukenhof ushers and take their bus straight to Keukenhof. More on the next section.

Alternatively, we saw a lot of tour groups in Amsterdam being herded by Keukenhof-uniformed guides. These are the organized tours that include transport by air-conditioned coach, entrance fees and a live guide.

In short, don’t be like us who availed the 29.50 Euro ticket, only to buy another tram ticket to Museumplein.

Conclusion

I loved Keukenhof. Despite the wild goose chase looking for Bus 397, despite our weekend visit and the inescapable number of tourists, despite the extra Euros we had to spend, I believe that if you happen to find yourself in Amsterdam during spring, you must visit Keukenhof.

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Jayce Cairo

Jayce is a linguaphile who speaks four languages and currently works as a translator to finance her various interests. Scoring very high on “Openness to Experience” on the Big Five Personality Test, she is an avid globetrotter who aspires to retire at 35 and travel for the rest of her life.

Tulips are my favorite! Gorgeous shots! I’ve always wanted to check out the spring tulips in the Netherlands. I can see where Keukenhof regards itself as the most beautiful spring garden in the world—it looks absolutely amazing! I love the patterns the flowers were planted in and the colors are so pretty, as well. Thanks for all the great tips about visiting—we definitely need to make it there someday!

So beautiful! I love all of the different flowers and the colors are amazing. I would take your advice and go at the beginning of the week, early in the day. Not a fan of crowds. We went to Amsterdam once, in January I think. We needed a break from the city, so we ventured out to Zaanse Schans and loved it. It smelled like chocolate when we got off the train! Keukenhof sounds and looks like a beautiful place to escape the city too. I will keep this in mind for sure.

We visited Keukenhof 4 years ago but I would go back every year if I could. Your tips about visiting mid-week and to arrive early are great. It’s unbelievable to think this beautiful park is only open for about 6 or 7 weeks a year. You timed it well by the looks of your stunning pictures.

Keukenhof is definitely on my bucketlist now, the flowers are absolutely gorgeous! I had no idea there were so many different types of tulips, and I love daffodils too so I’m glad they’re there too. Despite all the issues it definitely is worth going!

Recently I have been seeing lots of posts on Tulip Gardens of Netherlands and I am purely in love with them. They are gorgeous beyond words. I loved your pictures as well as the tips you shared. We are surely gonna plan our trip around Tulip Festival.

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